stephen hawking stars breakthrough starshot GettyImages 520676582Getty ImagesStephen Hawking in April 2016.

Stephen Hawking died early in the morning on March 14, 2018 - Pi Day and Albert Einstein's birthday - but left behind one of the most incredible legacies for a human being on Earth.

Hawking was a theoretical physicist who pioneered new understandings of black holes and the cosmos at large. What's more, he did so while struggling with a severe neurodegenerative disease that confined him to a wheelchair for the vast majority of his life.

The world-renowned scientist carefully contemplated and composed his thoughts with a special eye-tracking computer, and those words - many of them humorous - continue to inspire generations of people who were curious about how the universe works, where it came from, and where it may be headed.

Hawking supplied no shortage of remarkable insights about life, love, and science. Below, we've done our best to collect the most memorable things he said in his books, essays, interviews, TV show appearances, and more.

{{}}

View As: One Page Slides

On coping with his disability:

On coping with his disability:

On his life outlook:

On his life outlook:

On science and religion:

On science and religion:

On the place of humans in the cosmos:

On the place of humans in the cosmos:

On his diagnosis with ALS:

On his diagnosis with ALS:

On perfection and making mistakes:

On perfection and making mistakes:

On the purpose of intelligence:

On the purpose of intelligence:

On what Albert Einstein said about black holes:

On what Albert Einstein said about black holes:

On the future of humanity:

On the future of humanity:

On not giving up:

On not giving up:

On the perils of scientific discovery:

On the perils of scientific discovery:

On intelligence quotients (IQ):

On intelligence quotients (IQ):

On death:

On death:

On heaven and an afterlife:

On heaven and an afterlife:

Remembering Stephen Hawking:

These 15 photos show how Stephen Hawking defied his disability and lived an incredible life Stephen Hawking died on a day that is cosmically connected to Albert Einstein and Pi Stephen Hawking was only expected to live a few years after being diagnosed with ALS at age 21 — here's what the disease is The man who helped Stephen Hawking achieve his lifelong dream of experiencing zero gravity remembers what it was like to watch the acclaimed physicist break free of his wheelchair Stephen Hawking was rumored to run over the toes of people he didn't like with his wheelchair Here's what Eddie Redmayne, who played Stephen Hawking in 'The Theory of Everything,' said about his death Stephen Hawking had a 'sense of humor as vast as the universe': unique tributes flood in for esteemed scientist